Nov. 25, 2013

CSU's Acacia Andrews hustles to keep the ball in play during the Rams' sweep of Air Force at Moby Arena earlier this month. Despite being undefeated, CSU fell two spots in the latest RPI poll Monday. / Dawn Madura/The Coloradoan

The CSU volleyball team’s chances of hosting the NCAA tournament took a hit Monday.

While the undefeated Rams moved up a spot to No. 9 in the AVCA Coaches Poll, they fell two in the RPI to No. 20, despite picking up a pair of sweeps on the road last week at San Jose State (RPI No. 230) and Fresno State (82).

Colorado State University (27-0, 18-0 MW) was No. 18 in the RPI a week ago.

The top 16 teams as ranked by the official RPI, get the opportunity to host the NCAA tournament’s first- and second-round matches.

In 2009, Moby Arena hosted the opening rounds despite Washington being the highest-seeded team in the sub-regional. CSU was able to host due to Northern Colorado also making the tournament. UNC or the University of Colorado making the NCAA tournament would play no benefit to the Rams potentially hosting under the current format, which was changed from regional sites hos sites in 2011.

Despite ranking outside the top 16 in RPI, CSU has made preparations to host. An official bid was placed with the NCAA to bring the tournament to Moby Arena. The men’s basketball game against Southwestern Oklahoma State, originally scheduled for Dec. 7, has been moved back a day to make room for volleyball.

CSU wraps up the regular season this week, hosting San Diego State (RPI No. 105) on Wednesday and UNLV (133) on Friday. NCAA tournament selection day is Sunday.